Apparatus for cleaning castings



June 2 4, 1930.

J. 'r. STONEY APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CASTINGS Filed June 28, 19 24 an, Q

Patented June 24, 1930 NITED JOHN tr. s'r'oN-E or cnEvELAnn, onto nrrannrns For. crema ns ens'rines mutant filed ti as, 1924. Serial no. 122,970. f

This invention relates to apparatus and method of cleaning articles by subjecting the, same to a rapid si ccession of vibratory im-.

ratus of the prior application in eleven secpulses to dislodge material therefrom and relates more particularly to a'method and apparatus for dislodging sand and cores from castings,

The present over the device disclosed my prior Patent'No. 1,570,? 16, granted J an. 26, 1926,, and has for its object, to provide a method and apparatus by which the cleaning operation may be. performed more quickly and'more effectively. 1

Further objects are to lessen Vibration of the cylinder by loosely mounting the percussion member against which the piston impinges and toprovide means whereby. the piston will always be operated when pressure is applied thereto. I f

The device disclosed in the prior applicationabove referred to employeda fluid actuated vibrator or striker which imparted sharp blows in rapid succession upon a percussion member against which the castingwas held, and thisdevice effected a very material saving in time andlabor over methods which had heretofore been employed for dislodging sand from castings.

The'present invention is an improvement over the earlier device in that thevibrator is so constructed and arranged with respect o th S pp ng St uct tha no v b ations are transmitted to the, supporting frame except those produced by the impact of the striker against the percussion member which engages the casting, thus preventts in er g ib ati sin, he s n h s r su i es omr i hed' by Pr ng ea s f eff c i ely ushioning the return stroke of the striker so that it transmits vi at ry mp es at one end f its stroke only. It has, been found that by so cushs ioning the striker the 'tiine requir'ed for c eaning he, ta t ng s redimd 9 @5 Q 1 invention is an improvement third of the time required by the apparatus of the prior application. For instance certain castings could be cleaned by the-appa- ODdS, whereas the same castings have been cleaned with the present apparatus in approximately four seconds. The saving effeeted by the present invention will therefore be readily apparent.

Reference should be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which Fig. 1 is a side eleva ion of apparatus embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section takenaxially of the vibrator which is partially broken away to show a transverse section through the exhaust ports; Fig. 3- is a partial trans-verse section of the cylinder; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the piston or striker.

Referring to the accompanying drawings the entire apparatus is mounted upon a Y rigid supporting bed 1 which has rigid standards 2 and 3 at its front and rear ends. Between the front and rear standards 2 and 3 at :its front and rear ends, there is slidably mounted the vibrator mechanism which comprises an outer casing 4 which is slidably mounted upon the bed and movable toward and from the front standard 2. "Upon the rear standard 3 there is rigidly secured a horizontally disposed fluidpressure cylinder 5 which has a piston 6 from which extends the piston rod 7 which is connected to the rear end of the casing 4. The supply of fluid to the cylinder 5- may be so controlled as to hold the vibrator in the desired position on the bed. The casting. 8 to be cleaned is held hetwe'enrthe pe'r cussion member 9 at the forward end of the vibrator and yielding abntinents 10 carried by the forward standard 2. The Gasing 4 ha a cylindrical parties whieh is open at the" front end thereof and which is closed by the flange closure member 11 Which is secured to the end of the casing 1 'fit within the cylinder 15.

by means of bolts 12. The percussion mem-- her 9 is mounted in the closure head 11 centrally thereof, projects through the head 11 and somewhat beyond the inner face thereof to receive the impact of the striker. The percussion member 9 has a fluid tight fit in the head 11 and is not attached thereto, the loose mounting of the percussion member permitting it to move relatively to the head under impact of the pistons so that the vibrator casing is protected from the impact of the plunger. The percussion member 9 has an enlarged head 13 which may be provided with a grooved portion 14 which engages the casting. Within the casing 4 and held in place by the head 11 is an inner cylinder 15 which is held against rotation within the casing by a stud 16 projecting inwardly from the wall of the easing. The rear end of the inner cylinder is counterbored to receive an end plate 17 and also to receive a cup-shaped cushioning plunger 18 which has a limited slidingmovement in the cylinder toward and from the rear end plate 17 The piston or striker 19 fits within the cylinder and impinges at the end of its stroke against the percussion member 9 and cushioning plunger 18. The striker 19 has two spaced annular grooves which provide three spaced peripheral flanges 20, 21 and 22 which have a close The central flange 20 is solid whereas the two end flanges 21 and 22 are each provided with an annular row of axially extending openings, the openings 23 in the forward flange 21 leading to the space between the forward end of thepiston and head 11 and the openings 24 in the rear flange 22 leading to the space between the rear end of the piston and the cushioning plunger 18. ithin the wall of the inner cylinder 15 there is formed alongitudinally extending air inlet chamber 25 which communicates with the interior of the cylinder at spaced points through ports 26 and 27. A pressure inlet pipe 28 extends through the wall of the casing 4 and into the wall of the inner cylinder 15, the

.inner endo-f the inlet pipe 28 being in communication with the chamber'25. The supply of' pressure to the cylinder may be controlled by a suitable valve 29 located at a convenient point in the supply line 28. Upon the interior of the casing 1 and upon the exterior of the inner cylinder 15 there are formed wide circumferential grooves which register with each other and form an annular exhaust chamber 30 surrounding the inner cylinder intermediate the ends thereof.

1y reciprocate and impart blows to the percussion member. After the piston has been started in operation it will continue to rapidly reciprocate since the application of pres sure thereto is automatically reversed as the piston approaches the end of the stroke in either direction.

The cushioning plunger 18 has a sliding movement between the rear end plate 17 and the shoulder 33 at the inner end of the counterbore in which the plunger 18 fits. The plunger 18 is recessed on its rear side to provide greater volume in the chamber between the movable plate 18 and rear end prate 17 and this chamber is provided with an inlet through which air under pressure pressure behind the plunger. The impact of I are transmitted to the casing and supporting frame work such as would occur if the impact of the piston came against the rear end of the cylinder. By so cushioning the rearward stroke of the piston, the casting 8 which is being cleaned is subjected to no vibrations except those imparted thereto by the impact of the piston against the percussion member 9 and the vibrations produced by this impact are such as to impart an impulse to the sand tending to separate it from the casting.

The pressure supply pipes 28 and 34 for the cylinder and cushioning device are both connected to a main air pressure supply line 35 through a T fitting 36, the cushioni chamber being always in communication with the main supply line 35 and the main chamber of the cylinder being in communication with the supply line when the valve 29. is open. A branch pipe 37 extends from the supply line 35 to a control valve 38 from which pipes 39 and 10 extend to the opposite ends of the cylinder 5 by which the vibrator is shifted.

In addition, to cushioning the stroke of the piston 19, the fluid pressure cushioning device serves to hold the piston at one end of the cylinder after the operating measure is cut oil so that the piston will always be started upon admission of pressure to the cylinder. The plunger 18 permits a slight leakage of air from the cushioning chamher into the main chamber of the cylinder and this leakage, when the pressure is cut oil from the main chamber, is sufiicient to shift the piston to the forward end of the cylinder against the percussion member 9, in

'which position the piston is so disposed with respect to the inlet and exhaust ports that movement will immediately be imparted thereto upon admission of pressure through the inlet pipe 28.

The cushioning device also serves. as a lubricator for the vibrator since the movements of the plunger 18 will cause oil to work past the plunger into the main chamber in suflicient quantities to efiectively lubricate the piston.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. Apparatus of the character described comprising a, support, means thereon for holding an article to which vibrations are to be imparted, and means for imparting a series of impacts in rapid succession andin a single direction in the article.

2. Apparatus of the character described comprising a supporting structure, ,means thereon for holding an article to which vibrations are to be imparted, and means carried by said supporting structure for imparting a series of impacts in rapid succession and in a single direction to the article.

3. Apparatus of the character described comprising a supporting structure, means thereon for holding an article to which vibrations are to be imparted, including a per cussion member engaging the article, and means for imparting blows to the percussion member in rapid succession and in one direction only.

4. Apparatus of the character described comprising a supporting structure, a vibrator carried thereby comprising a striker and a percussion member against which the striker impinges, means for rapidly reciprocating the striker, means for holding the article to be vibrated against the percussion member, and yielding means for limiting the movement of the striker away from the percussion member.

5. Apparatus of the character described, comprising a supporting structure, a vibrator carried thereby comprising a fluid operated reciprocating striker, a percussion member against which the striker impinges when moved in one direction, and means forming a fluid cushion to limit'the movement of the striker in the opposite direction, and means for supporting an article tobe vibrated in engagement with the percussion plate.

3 6. Apparatus of the character described, comprislng a supporting structure, a vibrator carried thereby comprising a cylinder having piston therein, fluid supply connections whereby said piston will be rap dly reciprocated upon admission of pressure to In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

Q JOHN T. STONEY. 

